


Take Me Away

by p3achypink



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Adventures, Fluff, M/M, Post-Book 2: Lord of Shadows, Pre-Queen of Air and Darkness, Road Trip, Shadowhunters - Freeform, Spoilers for Book 2: Lord of Shadows, a single headcanon i had that spiralled out of control into this monster, i listened to cavetown while i wrote this cause im emo, i wrote this and was going to publish it before qoaad but its been like a year, its so stupid ohmygod, mostly - Freeform, no spoilers for queen of air and darkness, plz be nice to me i can't write, uhh wikihow to tag this idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 20:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20364763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p3achypink/pseuds/p3achypink
Summary: “Emma!” Julian called. “Have you seen Kit and Ty anywh-?”Emma whipped around, silencing him. Stress sparked in her brown eyes like live wires. “Jules, where's the car?”Julian stopped, eyebrows furrowing. He felt a headache coming on. He strode towards her again. “What? The car? Emma, it's-” he looked out the front window to see: nothing. Nothing but sand and desert for miles. No sign that Julian's silver Toyota ever sat there.OrKit and Ty run away from home in an attempt to escape the stress and emotional exhaustion that hangs over the LA Institute after the death of Livia Blackthorn.Takes place some time after the end of Lord of Shadows, before any events of and doesn’t relate to any canon of Queen of Air and Darkness





	Take Me Away

Julian never knew exhaustion could taste like chicken. But not good chicken, more like nasty, sour chicken; maybe chicken that had been dried in the sun and rolled around on the gravel outside.

He hadn't had a full night of sleep for weeks, not since Livvy's funeral. Comforting Tavvy from nightmares—that had returned and were worse than before—making sure Drusilla wasn't up all night, and planning what they were going to do about the Dearborn’s new found control, and about Annabel. Annabel Blackthorn, Julian’s ancestor who was brought back from the dead by a warlock who had used them. Annabel then later killed Julian’s sister, Livvy, and disappeared.

The only people in the Institute Julian wasn't watching were Ty, and Kit Herondale. He felt like didn’t have to. Ty wasn't speaking much, but Kit was stuck to his side everyday, every morning they came downstairs subdued and quiet, but not as visibly depressed, much like Julian felt. Julian didn't question it. Why should he? If they could provide comfort for each other in these desperate times, that's all Julian could ask for. He was grateful to Kit for that reason, genuinely.

However, the Blackthorn's, plus Emma and Kit, were given six weeks to move out after losing the trial, and when the day came to leave the Institute Julian found himself roaming the building tasting exhaustion chicken and looking for the two boys. He had been so busy all day he'd barely seen anyone, but Ty and Kit seemed to be extra scarce. He turned a corner and nearly crashed into the youngest Blackthorn girl: Drusilla.

They spoke at the same time: “have you seen Kit and Ty?” Julian blinked in surprise. It was one thing for Julian to have trouble finding his elusive brother and his friend, but Drusilla? Dru continued, her tone was hurried. “I've been looking all day. I tried calling, neither picked up. They're not in their other's rooms, not on the beach, not-”

“Library?” Julian and Dru started speeding walking together.

“No! I was just going downstairs to double-” 

“Julian!” Emma Carstairs’ voice rang through the Institute like a fire alarm from downstairs. Panic washed through Julian at the sound of his parabatai’s shriek. He turned and rushed down the main set of stairs, finding Emma with her hands on her hips looking out a window in the main foyer. Magnus Bane stood close by, who was supposed to be making them a portal, wringing his hands. He had fainted moments before the trial in Idris, and he definitely didn’t look much better now: his golden skin was washed out and his yellow cat eyes were dull, his hair flat and greasy against his scalp.

“Emma!” Julian called. “Have you seen Kit and Ty anywh-?”

Emma whipped around, silencing him. Stress sparked in her big brown eyes like live wires. “Jules, where's the car?”

Julian stopped, eyebrows furrowing. He felt a headache coming on. He strode towards her again. “What? The car? Emma, it's-” he looked out the front window to see: nothing. Nothing but sand and desert for miles. No sign that Julian's silver Toyota ever sat there.

“What the hell?” Julian muttered, taking a step back.

“The car has been gone all day, I thought you already took it to the new place,” Dru said quietly.

Julian felt like he'd just been hit with the flat of a blade. His headache roared to a steady pulse against his skull as his thoughts started running, connecting the pieces. Kit had a criminal past, no doubt he had stolen the car and run away with Ty—oh God Ty-

And Annabel, she was still out there. She took Livvy, who's to say she isn't hunting the other twin? Julian started to panic. Panic didn't taste like chicken, it tasted and felt like an old, crusty carpet weaved with pieces of torn up tinfoil. He turned around in a circle, looking at each person in the room in turn, all of them with the same realization and fear on their faces, then he promptly collapsed onto the cold, hard, mosaic of the Angel Himself.

Thin arms squeezed around Kit's waist, waking him from a dreamless sleep. His heavy eyelids peeled opened. The moon's glow lit up the room through the window, making everything black and white. Kit inhaled deeply and glanced down.

Ty had shifted. They had fallen asleep facing each other, but now Kit lay on his back with an arm stretched across the bed and Ty's head was tucked beneath it, black hair shining in the moonlight like a ravens feathers, his arms wrapped tightly around Kit. 

It was completely normal for them to sleep in the same bed now. It started after the Blackthorns and Kit returned to the institute, Kit would wake up in the middle of the night, after having a vivid nightmare of Livvy’s scarlet blood staining everything and everyone in the Institute, to find Ty sleeping on the floor amongst Kit's laundry, and he would invite him in. Eventually, Ty just stopped going his old room. Maybe because Kit's room was distanced from Livvy's. Maybe because Kit’s room was distanced from all the other Blackthorn's rooms.

Ty was curled up tight. The tension in his position told him Ty was awake, and thinking about something. Kit whispered Ty's name, and bent his arm so his hand lay on Ty's back. “I know you're awake.”

Ty turned his head so it lay on Kit's chest, his warm breath caressed Kit’s skin through his shirt. Kit suppressed a shiver.

“Were you sleeping?” His voice was deep, it was dropping so quickly recently, and raspy from sleep. Kit felt invisible fingers run down his spine.

“Yeah,” Kit murmured, “'s fine.” He drummed his fingers lightly against Ty's shoulder, he relaxed slightly in response.

Then it was silent. Kit drew small circles on Ty's back, Ty exhaled onto Kit's pectoral, his eyes closed. Then Ty's fingers tighten around Kit. The tension returned and his breathing turned choppy. Something was definitely up. Kit pulled him up onto his chest. His arms untangling from Kit's middle and around his shoulders instead. Kit's hands rubbed circles on his back until Ty relaxed.

Then he asked: “what is it?”

Ty fingers tangled in the locks of Kit's hair at the base of his head, keeping his face buried in Kit's neck. “I can't leave,” he breathed.

Kit sighed. “I know, Ty, but we don't have a choice, we lost the Institute-”

“No.” Ty rose up so Kit could see his face. His eyes were dull, glued to Kit's chin, and his lips were dry and cracked. He was so close, Kit felt he might as well have been holding that knife to his throat again. “I can't leave,” Ty’s voice broke, and Kit felt it in his chest. A desire to fix his broken voice and eyes, his mind started to spin.

He remembered a memory of his father, a story from his youth, about a girlfriend who came to him crying because her parents were sending her to a boarding school in Europe. An idea popped into his head. It was crazy, but if he could help Ty he would do anything. Take him away from the suffocating atmosphere of the Institute, all of the painful memories.

Kit sat up, Ty slid off of him, then climbed out of bed. He picked up a pair of jeans and a faded blue shirt from his floor.

“Kit?” Ty questioned. “What are you thinking?” He turned and said to Ty: “shower, get dressed, pack some stuff for a day and meet me downstairs,” then he took his clothes and disappeared out the bedroom door.

Almost twenty minutes later, Kit stood by the door, cleaned and dressed with a small bag, when Ty appeared the same. Kit's hurriedly gestured for him to come over, and then they both went out through the front doors at some ungodly hour of the morning, while the rest of the household slept.

On the porch, Kit grinned at Ty and said “we're running away.” He held up Julian's car keys and swung them in circles around his finger. Ty's delicate eyebrows rose. Kit continued: “not forever, just for today, then we'll be behind schedule for moving out, and we can stay longer!”

Ty said nothing, he only stared at the car over Kit's shoulder. 

“I mean, we don't have to, just my idea-” Kit said, but Ty cut him off. 

“No,” he said firmly, “I want to go. It’s a good idea.” Kit smiled and nodded, then hurried off to pile into the driver's seat of the car.

“You can drive?” Ty asked as he climbed into the passenger's seat.

“Yeah,” Kit replied, “my father taught me basics when I was like, thirteen. I haven't driven much since then, but it's not that hard.” He turned the car, stepped on the gas, and almost crashed headfirst into the Institute.

“That's not reverse” Kit muttered, a little too unbothered. Ty strapped on his seat belt.

Kit eventually got the car out on the long, straight highway that ran past the Institute. “What’s the speed limit out here?” He said to no one in particular. “Ah, screw it, I don't have a license anyway” and he slammed down on the gas. Ty's hand shot up to grip the bar above the window as the car lurched forward, what Johnny Rook used to call the holy shit handle, but Kit could have sworn the corners of his lips twitched up. 

“Kit, are we lost?” Ty said flatly, pulling an earbud out of one ear, after they had been driving straight down the same road for an unnerving amount of time

“No!” Kit squeaked. “It's just a little while until the turn off.”

“Oh yeah?” Ty teased, raising a dark eyebrow. “What turn is it? What exit?”

“It's. . .” Kit paused. “It's the next one.” 

Ty snorted. Kit felt Ty’s gaze brushing over him, watching Kit chew his lip and bounce his knee, he blushed from embarrassment. “You're adorable.” Ty muttered, almost as if he didn't want Kit to hear him. Kit pretended he didn't but blushed harder.

Kit kept driving, looking for a turn that might bring them to civilization, they'd only passed one and Kit could have sworn he'd seen Julian take one further down the highway. Maybe he should have brought a map, or at least charged his phone.

Then a few raindrops splattered on the windshield. Then some more,until there was a steady beat of rain against the glass of the windows, tapping on the metal roof. Kit hit his palms against the steering wheel and groaned about driving in the rain and the dark, then looked at Ty for some kind of reaction to his complaints but—

Ty had discarded his phone and headphones and had his knees pulled up to his chest, resting his chin on them, his eyes were wide staring at the steady drops patting against the glass, his dark bangs hanging limply across his forehead. He was deathly still. Kit could see the sharp bones of his shoulder through his thin shirt. His whole frame was washed in the electric blue light from the dashboard, making him look like a phantom to Kit, some otherworldly hallucination. 

He'd been doing this occasionally since they got back from Idris, Kit had noticed. Staring off into nothing, saying nothing, usually in the complete silence like in the middle of the night or sitting on a rock outside. Often whenever it rained.

“Ty?” Kit said, still staring. After a moment Ty looked back at him. His eyes glittered, so bright and sad at the same time, his grey iris’ looked almost black, sparkling with some that made Kit feel chilled, framed by his even darker, thick eyelashes. 

Kit's lungs were empty. His skin prickled with a need to do something. Maybe he should pull over. Ask him what was wrong. If he wanted to be held again like that day on the roof. Kit would do it. Kit wanted to hold him, so badly it surprised him. He wanted to–

Ty's gaze flicked down to Kit's hands on the steering wheel. “You're drifting into the wrong lane.” He murmured. Kit whipped his head forward to see another pair of headlights hurtling toward them head on. It's horn screeched as Kit shouted and yanked the steering wheel to the side and almost threw them into a ditch. Ty yelped and braced himself against his chair.

“Sorry!” Kit squeaked. Ty turned his head back to look out his window. The moment was over.

Kit sighed and looked ahead, and saw an exit sloping down onto a different highway that was populated with more cars. The sign said the name of city Kit had never heard of 90 miles away. So maybe he should have taken that first turn, but this would do just fine for a couple of kids who had no destination except for away.

“Bingo,” Kit sung, and gently eased the car onto the ramp and the new highway. To go away.

The sun had begun to rise but it was still dark enough for Kit to have his headlights turned on. The rain still poured and pounded against the car in a roar, the windshield wipers could barely keep up. Ty had his earbuds back in, to silence the rain that was now too aggressive for him it seemed. He was watching the windshield wipers slash back and forth, his grey eyes flicking with the same rhythm, shining with the reflection of the water.

Eyes on the road, Kit thought. Turning back to the traffic that was only growing with time, that would soon bring police cars that would be patrolling the roads, which Kit definitely needed to avoid, as a teenage, demon-hunter delinquent without a drivers license. 

But the steady, straight drive, surrounded by the desert and small, quiet towns and suburbs, had allowed Kit to think. He hadn't had a plan when they'd left, but now he had an idea: they would need to get breakfast somewhere where shadowhunters wouldn’t find them so he and Ty wouldn't be suspected as runaways—Kit figured that McDonald’s was too mundane for them, not good for their beautifully built bodies. And after that, Kit wanted-

The gas light chimed. It's offensive orange light and ping broke Kit out of his fantasies. He groaned. How far were they from a gas station? How much was gas? Kit had only brought fifty bucks, too caught up in the excitement to think of problems, ooh noo.

“Gas.” Ty said matter of factly, without taking his eyes off the rain washed window.

“Yep.” 

“Did you bring any money?”

“Some. But I don't know if it'll be enough, for today and to get home later. And for breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Kit looked at him. His bony frame and sharp, angular face. “You need to eat. We both do.”

“Well we could just get the gas and leave without paying.” 

That was an odd thing for Ty to say, Kit noted. “No, Ty, we're already two fifteen year olds going on a spontaneous road trip by ourselves. We could get in big trouble.” And that was a weird thing for Kit to say. What was happening right now? “Plus, I don't even know if that's how that works.”

Ty didn't reply. Just gestured out his window and muttered “there” when he spotted a gas station a few minutes later. Kit turned off of the neverending, forward highway onto a worn, sandy brown road that stretched out in several directions, one of which leading to a Seven-Eleven. Kit chewed on the inside of his cheek in concentration while he carefully pulled the car into the station and parked it. 

There were no other cars around, only a frowning young girl with dyed purple hair behind the counter in the station, lazily scrolling on her phone. 

Kit popped his door open and Ty started to do the same, but Kit put a hand on his shoulder. “No, you stay here.” Ty looked down at Kit's hand and blinked. Kit took his hand back. “I got this. Plus, you look too. . . Shadowhunter-y.” He continued. Ty snorted, looking doubtfully down at his dark jeans and sneakers, but said nothing. Kit sometimes wished that Ty would talk to him more, he thought as he walked around the car, it was hard to read him. He felt as if some kind of stress or pressure was building within Ty, and it worried him. Was he angry with Kit? Disappointed? Or just tired? Would he lash out, or break down? 

Kit watched him with pressed lips while he filled the car with gas, cold rain spitting on to his shoulder and in his blonde curls. Kit had always felt like the light from a sunrise was cool and sharp, while light from a sunset was warm and soft. He thought Ty definitely looked cool and sharp in the morning light, like he was a drawing painted entirely in pastel, cold colors and greys. He was snapped back to reality when a fat raindrop splattered on the tip of his nose. He shook it off and finished pumping gas, then strode off to go pay.

A little bell rang when Kit opened the door. The girl behind the counter dragged her gaze up from her phone to look at Kit, then raised her eyebrows. She looked him up and down. She saw slightly moist boy who looked old enough to have a driver's license but too anxious to be abiding by the law, and had a great big, black mark of an open eye on the back his hand. 

But the girl just sighed as if a more attractive guy with a better taste in tattoos had just been here five minutes ago. “Pay up here,” she shrugged. 

Kit paid — fourty five bucks. As the girl took his fifty dollar bill, he spotted a jar full of little birds carved from smooth wood in a few different colors. Two dollars each. Payments going towards a local homeless shelter. He picked up a lapis blue one and turned over in his hand, feeling the soft and smooth wood and the gently lumps on the side for closed wings. The perfect spherical head and delicate beak, and the thin shape protruding from the back as tail feathers.

He thought about Ty and how he ran his hands over random objects, soothed by the texture of frosted glass or the designs on the handle of a fork. Kit wondered. . .

The sour girl clear her throat. “You gonna buy that?” She said.

“What? Oh, yeah. Yeah I think so.” Kit said, still looking at the little bird.

She made an unimpressed noise, like this was the most inconvenient thing that could have happened to her right now. He gave her back some of the change she had just given him, and walked out, still holding the bird in his hands.

But he put the bird in his hoodie pocket when he saw Ty standing outside the car, in the rain, with his arms wrapped around himself. The tops of his shoulders and arms were speckled with dark raindrops. Rain was dripping off his hair in to his face. Kit could see he was shaking.

Ice cold panic shot through Kit. “Ty?” He called, speeding up into a jog across the pavement. Ty lifted his head to watch Kit come toward him. His eyes were burning with something Kit couldn't place. His insides tightened. He hadn’t been like this since they were in London. At least Kit hadn’t seen him like this. His heart clenched at the thought of Ty like this all alone in his room.

“Ty,” Kit breathed. His fingers were gripping his elbows so tight that his knuckles were bone white. Kit could see his pulse hammering in his neck. Kit offered his hand to Ty if he wanted to hold it. “Hey, I’m right here, Ty.”

“I know.” Ty’s voice was a low rumble. He made no motion to take Kit’s hand, staying clenched and staring at his feet. “Kit I–can I–I just– “ He groaned in frustration.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kit said slowly. “Take your time, I–“

Suddenly, Ty look a deep breath, his hands unfolding and shooting up to grab Kit by his face, and hold him while he leaned down to close the space between them and kissed him squarely on the lips.

Kit froze. Blood roared in his ears. He would have been less shocked if he punched him. If he had stabbed him in the gut. Anything but kissed him. But it wasn't unpleasant. Ty’s lips were rough and warm on Kit’s when everywhere else felt cold and Kit could feel Ty’s eyelashes on his skin and–

Ty pulled back. He was staring right at him. His eyes still burning, shaking. Kit felt his face slowly heat up. Ty hand’s fell to his sides, his features neutral, then he turned to climb back into the car.

Kit stared ahead blinking, cold rain drops still hitting his face. Ty has just kissed him. The same boy who threatened him with a knife when they first met, and he couldn’t move. A voice in his head screamed to do something, don't just stand there like an idiot, but he felt like he’d been cursed to stay completely still. Like that spell in Harry Potter that makes you go as stiff as a board. Until he saw Ty’s car door start to swing shut.

Kit snapped out of it. He lurched forward and caught the door before it closed. Ty looked up at him, asked him with his eyes. Those eyes. And without hesitating, without knowing what else to do—or thinking about what he was doing—Kit swung himself into the car to sit in Ty's lap, facing him. Pulling the door shut behind him. It was Ty's turn to blink.

Internally, Kit screamed in panic. Romance came naturally to him, flirting, usually, but now it was Ty and he felt dizzy and warm and clumsy—more than usual, Kit thought. His heartbeat was frantic. Just looking at Ty, his familiar features suddenly looked sharper, more beautiful this close up. Unable to stand it any longer, Kit pulled Ty's head toward him by the back of his neck and kissed him back.

And kissed him harder. Ty gasped against him. His cold hands fell on to Kit's waist and held on tightly, to keep them from trembling. Then, in an effort to bring himself closer to Ty, Kit's knee slipped off the side of the seat, smacking into the hard, plastic lever. Ty yelped as the seat shot back, laying him flat. Kit barely caught himself by his hands on the backseat, over Ty’s head. He blushed visibly in the shadow of Kit's body. His eyes dancing over Kit, leaning over him, so close Kit could feel his breath against his mouth. Kit leaned down just as Ty reached up for him, and they crashed together. 

Ty's hands dragged up Kit's back and around his front, splaying open on his chest before grabbing his shoulders to pull Kit's body down, to press himself into the soft back of the chair. Kit shifted his hips over Ty's. Ty gasped. His fingertips bit into Kit's shoulder through his hoodie. Kit’s mind was spinning at how Ty was working him so well. 

Kissing Ty was different from kissing Livvy, Kit thought, with a pang in his gut. Though he had only kissed Livvy a couple of times, it had been gentler, and quiet. Kissing Ty made his skin feel like it was charged with electricity, that it made time speed up. Like he was running to catch something he desperately had to have, that he couldn’t live without. Maybe it's because he's a boy, Kit thought, but was followed up with: maybe it's because he's Ty. Kit had thought about boys before, but the environment he grew up in didn’t make it easy to do anything more than think, and get no answers. Then once he arrived at the Institute, everything was happening at once and it was always busy, he hadn’t thought about Ty as more than a friend, let alone think about if Ty liked boys, too.

Kit certainly had an answer for all his questions now.

He pulled back to breathe. Ty had his eyes closed. Kit watched his adam's apple bob beneath his pale skin as he swallowed, and inhaled. Kit lowered again and kissed the corners of Ty’s mouth, and his jaw. Ty’s body lifted up towards him, their chests brushed, Kit felt his stomach tighten. Barely an inch of empty air separate them from connecting completely, but Kit didn’t have the arm strength—or mental preparation— to close it. So he lifted himself to look at Ty.

His steely eyes opened. He was looking directly at Kit. He felt as if he was the one being pinned down. Kit's arms holding himself up wobbled.

Ty panted, his breath mixing with Kit’s. Ty shimmed his body so he was sitting up. His eyes glittered more brightly than they had in awhile. Kit was breathing hard, his rising chest lightly touching against Ty's. 

Ty pulled himself out from under Kit to lay across the back seat. Then shifted to make room for Kit to lay beside him. Kit scrambled to crawl to him, and sitting the passenger's seat back up. Ty brushed his lips against Kit's before wrapping his arms around him, then tucking his head under Kit's chin.

“Thank you,” Ty murmured against him. Kit wasn't sure what he was thanking him for. Kissing him back? Running away with him? He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes. He had just kissed Ty. Sat in his lap and kissed him. And Ty had kissed him back just as much. 

And yet, nothing had changed. Kit still fell asleep with Ty in his arms.

Kit jolted awake when something smacked against the car window. He turned around. Ty groaned as he woke up.

The girl with the purple hair from the gas station was glaring at them through the window, knocking against it more rapidly with her long nails, painted the same color as her hair, now that she saw they were awake.

“What?” Kit shouted, glaring back at her. Ty groaned again and smacked Kit's shoulder with the back of his hand as he rolled over, to tell him to shut up. The girl just put her hands on her hips. Kit stretched out to open the car door.

“This isn't a motel,” she snapped. “Is there anyone I have to call? You can't stay here.”

“Alright, alright,” Kit said. “We're just taking a quick break.” He started getting out of the car, shaking Ty awake.

“You've been here for over three hours.” 

Kit's eyebrows arched. Looking around he saw that the rain had stopped and the ground was parched yet again, the sun was high in the blue, cloudless sky, and cars were actually driving on the road.

Kit scratched his neck. “Sorry, I guess—”

“We're leaving.” Kit jumped. Ty had emerged from the car and was standing behind him, arms crossed. 

The girl stared at Ty open mouthed, like she wanted to say something. But before she could, Ty murmured, “let's go, Christopher,” and turned around to climb back into the passenger's seat.  
Kit blushed at the sound of Ty's voice saying his full name, but then climbed back into the car.

Kit started the car, no longer in need of gas, and pulled out into traffic. Kit would have thought that at almost noon on a weekday, there would not be so many cars out for food. But no, every store had a line stacked up both inside the building and outside in the drive through. Guess that’s just LA, he thought.

And to make matters worse, Ty still didn't know what he wanted to eat.

“I don't usually order fast food,” he had protested after Kit pressed him to think of something. “Julian cooks, or Emma orders Chinese food or pizza.”

“We'll we're not having Chinese or pizza for breakfast,” Kit had said. “What about McDonald's? They have everything at McDonald's.” 

Ty paused, chewing his bottom lip. “What about. . . pancakes?” He said quietly, glancing at Kit through his feathered eyelashes.

“Anything you want, Ty,” Kit replied, surprising himself at the softness in his own voice.

A little while later they were pulling into a McDonald's parking lot. Kit was frowning at his left over dollar bills from the gas, when Ty popped up from his seat and flicked open the glovebox.

“I forgot to tell you,” he said, rummaging around in piles of paper. “I found this after you went to go pay for gas.” He handed Kit a little, cheap, navy blue change purse that was coated in dust. Kit cracked opened the latch. It was stuffed with old, crumpled bills of assorted amounts. But it was certainly enough to buy them breakfast, and maybe even gas to get them back to the Institute. It must have been some kind of spare change purse Julian kept for emergencies.

“Ty,” Kit whispered, still looking at the money, counting out enough for breakfast. “You're an angel.”

Ty's pale cheeks turned pink at the praise. “I was going to bring it to you earlier to pay for the gas, but then. . .” It was quiet for a moment.

“You got distracted?” Kit joked. But Ty just looked at him. Looked at his eyes. 

Desperate to break the silence, Kit said softly: “why did you kiss me?”

Ty’s dark eyes darted away. Kit internally punched himself for asking such a difficult question. Ty replied, almost inaudibly: “I think I just. . .wanted to.” Then he added, “I think I have for a while.”

Kit blinked, his face heating up.

After a pause, Ty turned back to him and took a deep breath, while Kit held his own; completely unsure of what Ty would say next.

“If I kissed you right now, would you kiss me back, again?” Ty said timidly, his hands twitching in his lap. Kit wanted to hold them.

Kiss me and find out, Kit wanted to say, but he feared challenging Ty. Instead he just breathed: “yes.”

And he waited. He watched Ty, chewing his bottom lip and fidgeting, but he made no move to kiss him again.

Anticipation was building in Kit's gut as the silence dragged on, he started to feel dizzy. He even risked leaning in closer to Ty. But Ty still didn't reach for him like he had earlier. He just stared.

Kit sat back and turned around to get out of the car. “I'll go get the pancakes.” He said. Pocketing the change purse as he went. His hand knocked into something solid, and smooth. The wooden bird Kit had bought at the gas station. It was so light that he'd completely forgotten about its existence. Kit had bought it to give it to Ty but he thought bringing up that gas station might be awkward, like it was just a moment ago. 

He'd think about it later, and walked into the McDonald's. He order two pancake breakfasts, one with bacon and one with sausage, plus and orange juice and an apple juice. The worker gave him his food in plastic packages that Kit struggled to balance with the juice on his way back to the car. Ty chose the one with bacon and the orange juice, which was fine with Kit.

Kit encouraged Ty to play his music through the car's speakers while Kit figured out how to get to his next destination.

“Where are we going, anyway?” Ty asked while he hooked up his music player.

Kit smirked. “Oh, you'll see,” was all he said. He had an idea, but how long it would take them to get there Kit wasn't sure, or if Ty would even want to stay, but it was an idea. After all, it was just an idea that caused them to end up here.

Kit listened to Ty's music—which was mostly classical and piano, but had some pop and indie songs with a satisfying rhythm mixed in—and tried his best to navigate the world through the bright green road signs.

Ty's head jerked up as Kit drove up and stopped at their destination, his obsidian hair flipping up with with it, exposing his forehead before falling back down into its original position.

“The beach,” Ty stated. “We live beside a beach at the Institute.” Then he lowered his eyes, “or at least, we did.” Kit noted how he said we. He was unsure why it made him feel warm.

“Well I like the beach,” Kit said, turning the car off. “And I wanted to get some fresh air,” though that wasn't the entire truth, Kit had other plans in mind. “C'mon, let's go sit.” Kit opened the trunk and gathered his bag and a blanket, then started toward the sandy stretch of land and sea, with Ty following closely behind.

The beach was barely populated, a few groups of teenager's spread out with speakers playing the same loud music with a pounding bass, and vaping, huge clouds of white steam billowing around them, stinkingly sweet. Ty's nose crinkled at them as they walked, but then he turned to watch the ocean, and his gaze softened. The steady rhythm of the waves rising, rushing onto the sand, and collapsing with a subtle boom seemed to sooth him. Kit could understand. Then he turned to look at Kit. Ty had the same look on his face looking at him.

Kit gulped. “Here?” His voice cracked while he spoke. Ty's mouth twitched into a smile for a second, then he nodded. Kit threw the blanket down, then waited for Ty to sit down beside him. They weren't completely out in the open, a short wall of grasses separated them from the other groups of kids.

“What now?” Ty asked. Kit slung his pack off his shoulder. He unzipped it and pulled out—the Institute laptop. The same one Julian gave to Ty. The one Ty had called Watson, before he met Kit. Ty's eyebrows raised as Kit opened it to the downloaded folder.

“Are we watching porn?” Ty questioned slowly.

Kit almost choked. “Yeah, definitely not.” He clicked the first file. The opening for BBC's Sherlock started playing.

Ty blinked.

Kit spread his arms out wide. “Ta-da!” He sang. “You said you didn't watch the show, because you liked the books so much. But I think you should watch it, it's really good.” Ty still didn't say anything. He sat still and just watched the video on the computer. Kit's hands sank back to his sides. Ty isn't someone who enjoys surprises, Kit remembered, and started to panic. Stupid. “I mean, we don't have to, if you'd rather-”

“No,” Ty said, turning his storm grey eyes to Kit’s wind blown curls. “I like this.” Kit wasn’t sure if this meant just the surprise. Kit relaxed a bit and shifted closer to Ty until their shoulders brushed.

About fifteen minutes into the episode Kit’s mind began to wander. He watched the waves crashing on the sand and way out on the horizon. The soft boom of them combined with the smell of Ty beside him—his scent of citrus soap, coconut shampoo that made his hair look so soft, and the salty breeze from the ocean—made him feel a sense of homeness that he only felt when he was with Ty. Kit gazed at Ty’s legs, stretched out passed the laptop with the heels of his sneakers resting in the hot sand, long and slender. His gaze drifted up the curve of his thighs in his skinny jeans, over his shirt clinging to his thin waist, up and over the unmarked, smooth skin stretched over his Adam’s apple, landing on his lips. His lips. The same lips Kit had been dreaming of before he even knew it. The ones he had kissed. Plump and flushed and chapped from biting them and–

Ty was looking at him. Looking right at him. His steely grey ones meeting Kit’s sky blue ones, his face barely an inch from Kit’s. Kit was reminded of the two them in the car at breakfast. And Kit realized: Ty had been daring Kit to kiss him. While Kit waited for Ty to take the first step, Ty had been waiting for Kit to prove himself. Ty was looking at him like that again.

If I kissed you right now, would you kiss me back, again?

Heart pounding, Kit reached across to place his hand on the ground on the opposite side of Ty, so he was looking up at him from below. Kit watched a blush crawl up Ty’s neck, feeling his own face burn, before slowly bringing one leg across Ty’s, sitting upright in his lap. Then closing all space between them and pressing his lips to Ty’s.

He was lost in him immediately. It was incredible, really. Kit tangled his fingers in Ty’s hair — it was as soft as it looked — and pulled at it as the kiss deepened, making Ty loose a groan that made Kit’s hair stand up. Ty’s tongue brushed Kit’s lips and he immediately let him in, unintentionally giving a small moan at the sensation of Ty’s tongue on his, twisting and pushing. Ty’s hands traveled freely over Kit’s torso above his shirt. Ty broke away from his mouth, to let Kit gasp for air, before he grazing his lips on Kit’s neck, kissing beneath his jaw and sucking on the skin. Kit’s hands gripped his hair, letting out small noises at the heat and wetness of his mouth on his neck. Ty’s hands still roaming and rubbing all over.

Kit never wanted to stop. He’d never felt so heavy and light at the same time. Felt such pleasure in every part of his body. Part of him burned to feel more of Ty on him and another part feared for when Ty would notice his growing need, literally, and what would come next. He wasn’t ready to go that far, not now.

That was when Ty plunged his hands under Kit’s shirt, up his back.

He gasped. Kits body arched toward him, every muscle tensing. Kit gritted his teeth and groaned through them. The skin of Ty’s hands was cold, but the trail they left as traveled, stroking up and down his sensitive sides, was like fire. 

Ty’s mouth sank to a tender spot where his neck connected to his shoulder, Kit squirmed and whimpered.

“Ty.” Kit’s voice was a light giggle, like someone who was high out of their mind. “I’m–I can’t–“ 

But he cut himself off with a loud, gasping moan when Ty circled his hands around to press their rough palms against Kit’s lower belly; right where the pressure was steadily building and heating up. Blood roared south in Kit’s body.

Ty stopped kissing his neck, the pressure from his hands lifted slightly. Kit’s mind whirled in a panic, his cheeks burned bright red, so without knowing what else to do, Kit threw his weight forward so Ty fell backwards, hitting the ground with an “oomf”. Kit’s hands were splayed on either sides of Ty’s head, his knees on either side of his hips.

Ty’s deep grey eyes, swimming with heavy emotion, were blown wide; his gaze sitting on Kit’s neck, where his lips had just been. His lips that were swollen and red, slightly parted. His silky black hair formed a sort of dark halo around his head in the white sand. Pink color was stained high on his normally pale cheekbones. Kit thought he had never looked more beautiful, it made his heart ache.

“Was it too much?” Ty asked, with a tiny grin. Kit swooned. 

Kit leaned in to brush his lips against the other boy’s. “No,” he murmured against Ty’s mouth, making Ty draw his knees up behind Kit. “You just surprised me, ‘s not your fault.” Kit leaned in closer and felt Ty in the same situation against the inside of his thigh. Kit smiled softly as he watched Ty’s blush deepened. He bent down to kiss his jaw before crawling off of him to lay on his side facing him. Ty rolled onto his side as well. Immediately Kit felt cold again, so he shuffled closer, though Kit tried not to think about how close they’re hips were.

“I’m sorry,” Ty whispered, his eyes cast down, somewhere over Kit’s waist, his charcoal lashes brushing his cheek bones. “I suppose I should have asked, before I touched you like that.”

Kit shook his head. “We can work on communication. Don’t worry about it, I’d tell you if it was too much.” This seemed to relax Ty. “I trust you,” Kit said in that soft tone he only used with Ty.

Ty’s eyes flicked up. “You promise that would tell me to stop if I ever pushed you too far?” He said, almost under his breath.

“I promise,” Kit whispered back. “And you would tell me, right?” Ty nodded. His hand drift up for comb through Kit’s curls. Kit leaned into the touch, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. “And I trust you, too,” Ty said.

Kit opened his eyes. He realized that these were not easy words for Ty to say to someone, especially now, after Livvy’s death and the loss of the LA Institute. This prompted Kit to blurt out: “I love you.”

Ty’s hand stalled in Kit’s hair. His gaze met Kit’s once again. Having Ty stare at him like that made it difficult to breathe. But Kit continued:

“I can’t believe it took me until you kissed me at a gas station to see it, but I love you. And I have always loved you. I’ve loved you since you kept me from running away. Since you invited me to be your detective partner. Since I held you on the roof in London. Since you left that note for Annabel at the Cornwall institute.” Kit gulped back the emotion rising in his throat. “You held me at knife point and I could only think about how beautiful you were in the witchlight. Tiberius Blackthorn, I am yours.” Kit was breathing hard now, feeling like he’d just cut open a piece of his soul for Ty. His fists were balled in the fabric of Ty’s shirt. Then Ty opened his mouth.

“I love you, too. I’ve loved you since you were bold enough to push me off while I held a knife to your throat, and to try to escape with nowhere to go. I’ve loved you since you let me stay with you at night, and never asked me why I needed to. I kissed you at the gas station because you’ve been nothing but kind to me, and I needed to show how you made me feel. How your blue eyes and golden curls and those clusters of freckles around your temples and corners of your mouth made my heart race. I don’t care where we’re going now, whenever you, and my family are, that’s my home. You’ve changed my life, Christopher Herondale.” Ty’s voice broke over the last sentence. Kit could have melted. His throat felt swollen as he swallowed and his heart hammered in his chest. Kit opened his arms and Ty tucked his head beneath Kit’s chin, wrapping his arms around Kits middle and tangling their legs, like how they woke up this morning.

They stayed like that for what seemed like ages. And Kit could have stayed there for many more. But Ty raised his head to whisper in Kit’s ear:

“Take us home, Kit.”

By the time Kit and Ty arrived back at the Institute, having gotten lost several times, the sun was setting, making the ocean look like flames lapping at the golden sand. Kit removed the key from the ignition and everything went quiet. He turned to look at Ty, who was watching the sun’s slow and steady decline beneath the fiery sea. He was glowing. Literally, from the sun’s light that was warming the car, but also in a way that made his eyes a little brighter, sit a little straighter, and fidget a little less. Kit couldn’t help grinning.

“We’re back.” Kit said, leaning back in his chair and turning his head join Ty in watching the sun sink. “I don’t really want to go back in there. Julian’s gonna be so pissed.” He confessed.

Ty snorted. “I won’t let him yell at you too much.” He said, joking — God, Ty was joking again — but the thought of facing Julian made him shudder. Kit moved to put the car keys in his hoodie pocket, where his knuckles brushed against something solid, and smooth. Kit blushed when he remembered the blue wooden bird he had bought, and he blushed harder still when he remembered why he hadn’t given it to Ty yet, and when he wondered how it had managed to stay in his hoodie pocket after the events of the day.

He swallowed, then slowly pulled the wooden bird out of his pocket. “So, um. . . I forgot about this,” Kit raised the bird in Ty’s direction, watching for a reaction. “I bought this back at the, uh, gas station. . . I got it for you, I thought you might like it.” It felt stupid now, but as Ty wrapped a delicate hand around the small wooden object and his fingers glided over the smooth surface, his features melted into that state of peace, of security, Kit’s chest relaxed in relief.

“Kit?” Ty whispered.

“Yes, Ty?” Kit replied just as quietly, angling his body towards him.

“Thank you, for all of this, all of today.” Then Ty put the bird down beside him and reached across to cup Kit’s face in his hands, and pull him in to kiss him. He was so gentle and soft it made Kit’s insides knot together in emotion; an emotion that told him that if he ever hurt Ty, in any way, he would die. And if anyone else ever hurt Ty, he would kill them. And then Kit was reaching for him, to kiss him just a little harder, to hold him just a little closer. 

Suddenly, a blast of cool ocean air rushed past Kit and strong hands grabbed Kit by his shoulders to yank him viciously out of the car. Kit watched Ty’s pretty eyes grow wide before he was snatched by a different pair of hands. When he was pulled to his feet, he realized he was being held hostage by none other than Emma Carstairs. And across from him over the top of the car, gripping Ty protectively, Kit stared into the cold, furious, sea green of eyes Julian Blackthorn. Pure, flowing fear flooded Kit’s chest cavity. He silently prayed a thanks to whatever merciful god had allowed Kit to be held by Emma and not Julian.

“Hey guys!” Kit squeaked, averting his gaze from Julian to Emma, but she looked just as deadly. “Did you miss me?”

Julian opened to his mouth to say something, probably that he was going to end Kit’s life if he ever tried anything like that again, if he wasn’t going to kill him now, but before Julian could speak Ty threw his head back and laughed. An actual laugh, not a snort or a scoff. A loud giggle that made his shoulders shake and the corner of his eyes crinkle. Kit doubted Ty was laughing at Kit’s lame attempt to get Julian to spare him. He was more likely laughing because he felt like laughing, because he felt happy. A toothy grin grew across Kit’s face.

Julian looked to Kit, astonished. Kit just shrugged. But then Julian smiled too, his features relaxing and turning up, and suddenly he looked less tired. He shook his head at Kit, shooting him a look that said: we’ll talk later, before gently leading the still giggling Ty back to the Institute. Emma dropped her hand from Kit’s shoulder and followed the two brothers.

Kit glanced once more to the car, to the golden skyline, with a genuine smile spread across his freckled face. Before he followed the others back inside. Back to the people he was happy to call his home.

**Author's Note:**

> if you actually read this whole thing i respect and appreciate you wow ily.  
i started writing this in september 2018 and i finished my final edit in the summer of 2019, just because i'm lazy. so if people actually like this it would be cool :) i know it probably took you like 30 minutes to read but it took me a disgustingly long time to write, so nice comments would be appreciated :D i love kitty with my whole heart.  
follow me on twitter if you ever want to talk or be friends: @binniemon_ , i only post about kpop tho lmao :D


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